Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-11-27

I, Doue,nber Fl, Ia
land,' so the waters were healed unto
| this day." And / can testify to their
sweetness and purity. Without this
fountain the plain of Jericho would be a
| bowling wilderness. With its waters
properly utilized it could be made para
| disc. A handsome aqueduct carries a
stream of its water across from bank to
bank of the brook Cherith on which
| New Jericho is situated, but this season
! of the year the brook is dry except the
pools up in the mountains, as l have
| before indicated. The water by this
aquetiuct is conveyed long distance to
| a Greek monastery III the direction
| of the Dead Sea. Immediately back of
| the site of ancient Jericho Is the Mount
of Temptation, where tradition says our
Savior was tempted of the devil. 1t Is
| the highest peak of all this range, nearly
| inaccessible from the Jericho side. About
half way up the Greeks have monastery
where water is packed the year round IN
goat skins on the backs of donkeys. 1t
! is remarkable, the hold the Greek church
! has taken on all the places where tradition
| has located the events pertaining TO the
! life of Christ | can imagine the grand
picture that unfolded TO the eyes of the
| Savior when he stood on the towering
peak of this exceeding high mountain
and looked from this coigne of vantage
up and down this beautiful valley, dotted
! with smiling towns and cities. and a
country lush with all the rich pro-
| auctions of the soil.
| From where He stood it seemed but
short distance dcross the valley 10 Mount
| Nebo
''Where Moses stood
| And viewed the landscape DER"
| doubt not. but with the natural eye he
could see Jerusalem, and splrltuallzed by
fasting forty days and forty nights beheld
the paeorama of all the kingdoms of the
earth pass before His vision as the
tempter, given for the time the
power, could exercise the miracle
lust as the witch of Endor could cast
spell that should bring up IN the pres
| en- ce of Saul the spirit of the dead Sam
uel. But to resume the routine OF
! travel:
At precisely o'clock the next morn
| ing, we were in the saddle bound Tor the
Dead Sea and the Jordan. [ confess to
a peculiar sensation in riding along at
| this uncanny hour, attended by tour
men, natives of Palestine, and no com
rade near to communicate the fraternal
| touch of elbow. The horses iron shoes
gave forth no metallic ring on the yield
ing sand and with guard and guide both
in advance with shot guns to their back
| like mounted infantry, showing up
against the starlight, it seemed to me at
times that the intervening years since "a
was all a dream and L was out on
midnight prowl after the Johnny rebs.
| So silently, none of the natives utterlng
| a sound, and awed into silence and a
nameless something that oppressed me,
we passed along through succession of
creased and fantastic appearing hills,
! emerging from which on to a level piece
of ground that appeared to have been
once flooded, we struck line of drift
wood-beyond this a pebbly beach lea
down to the famed Dead Sea-dead
because its waters are death
to all species of life that
on its broad surface, fifteen miles by
sixty, not an aquatic fowl vets feather.
Not an oar CRATES in the rowlock nor a
Il
receives Jordan's flood into its NAV as
though it were the father of all Arab
children, who learn to say as their morn
ing and evening prayer, give, give,
but imparts nothing for humanity's sake.
1t is too close to the lower regions to have
any outlet unless into sheol itself. and
that would be outrageOuSly unorthodoX.
stopped down and with my hand con
1rof Of To
Geewhiz, Did ever mortal man take
such dose, even for the cholera?=. ASA
foedita might have taken the taste out of
my mouth, but had neglected to pro-
vide any and it fingers there still-iE
memory. AS the dawn broke / discov-
cred that the water was clear and trans
parent and the gentle waves Tapped
against the beach as though to charm
away into forgetfulness the horror with
which its name and Internal taste in
spires one. There was no occasion to
linger by its deceptive waters, and SO we
swung ourselves into the saddle and
struck diagonally across the plain for the
Jordan. Riding for an hour we
at length entered the immediate
valley of the river where rocky forna-
tons of a chalky nature in many fantas-
tic forms presented a barrier 10 any over
flow beyond its limits On the other
side was the range of the mountains of
Moab The Dead Sea lies between this
range and the mountains of Judah, both
coming down to the waters edge. Much
as | have heard of the insignificance of
the Jordan as river, | confess | was
not prepared for the disappointment that
greeted my eyes when / first beheld the
narrow. dirty stream that rushed past
me between the high banks fringed with
willows. tanarisk and wild cane. | at
first thought the dragoman was giving
me game. but when he assured me
with a face as long as the pack mules,
that this was the verltable Jordan, which
pilgrims from America came seven thou
sand miles to see, / was forced to believe
him. We drew rein at a place he called
the ford, and here he said was the spot
where Jesus. according TO tradition, was
baptized by John. The stream here was
about as wide as Little river at the Oak
street bridge. 1t bears quite a rescm-
blanCe to that stream, except that the /
current IS very rapid, the volume Of wa I
ter larger and Of greyish color. Above I
the spot which have described. IS the .
ford now in use. Two shepherds,
stripped to the skin were
wading back and forth transferring their
flock of sheep and goats from the oppo-
site bank Their method was n novel
one. They would take an animal by the
ear. both goats and sheep have long lop
or dropping ears one IN each hand, and
force them along. the water helping TO
buoy them mp. They baad piteousIy and
when their muzzles became submerged
they made noise more easily imagined
than Described Lust fog the rlofnrlefY